1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to hangers and, more specifically, to plastic hangers.
2. State of the Art
Clothes hangers have been formed of a variety of materials including wire rods, wood, combinations thereof, and plastic. Such clothes hangers include a hook portion and two inclined, diverging shoulder rails, connected to and extending from the hook portion. Typically, a horizontal rail is connected between the outer ends of the shoulder rails for strength and to support pants, etc., on the hanger.
The most common type of hanger is formed of an integral, one-piece member of metal, wood or plastic which is formed into the hook, the inclined, diverging shoulder rails and the horizontal rail. The combined metal and wood hangers are formed of separate metal and wood pieces which are fixedly secured together for use as a hanger.
Plastic hangers are formed as an integral one-piece assembly, typically, by injection molding. Due to the size and shape of the hanger, the mold cavity is necessarily large thereby enabling only one or just a few hangers to be produced in a single mold in each run cycle. The production rate of such plastic hangers is, therefore, low.
Further, due to the triangular shape of a typical hanger, transportation and storage costs are generally high since the hanger, even though it weighs very little, consumes a large amount of space due to its triangular shape. The containers used to store and transport the hangers are required to be large enough to contain the entire hanger, even though a large portion of the volume of such containers are dead space, such as that enclosed by the shoulder rails and horizontal rail of each hanger.
Some types of hangers include a friction producing surface, such as flocking, to prevent clothes from falling off of the shoulder or horizontal rails. Typically, loose flocking fibers or particles are sprayed onto an adhesive coating previously applied to the horizontal rail and/or portions of the shoulder rails. However, due to the triangular shape of the interconnected shoulder rails and the horizontal rail, a considerable amount of the sprayed adhesive and flocking does not contact the hanger and is wasted which increases production costs.
Another feature found on some hangers is shoulder pads. Such shoulder pads are formed as enlarged areas at the apexes of the shoulder rails and the horizontal rail or as separate smoothly curved members which snap onto the apexes of a hanger. Such shoulder pads provide an enlarged, smooth surface which prevents wrinkles from being formed in clothing hung from the hanger. However, such shoulder rails are provided as an extra cost, attachment to an existing hanger or require a specially designed hanger in which the shoulder pads are integrally formed or molded into the hanger.
It would be desirable to provide a hanger which minimizes transportation and storage costs by being able to be transported or stored in a minimal amount of space. It would also be desirable to provide a hanger which can be separated into separate components for minimal storage space requirements. It would also be desirable to provide a hanger in which a friction producing surface, such as flocking, can be easily applied to desired portions of the hanger without waste. It would also be desirable to provide a hanger which can be constructed at less expense and from lower cost material, in smaller molds and molding machines, and at higher production rates than previously devised hangers, particularly plastic hangers. Finally, it would be desirable to provide a hanger which includes enlarged shoulder pad areas at a minimal additional cost.